On Monday, twelve Republican senators sent a letter to International Criminal Court chief prosecutor Karim Khan, warning him that should he issue warrants for senior Israeli officials, sanctions would be issued against him.
Led by Sen. Tom Cotton, Sens. Mitch McConnell (minority leader), Rick Scott, Tim Scott, Ted Cruz, and Marco Rubio signed the letter, which explicitly threatened the ICC prosecutor should he choose to pursue legal action against Israeli officials.
The letter read, “Such actions are illegitimate and lack legal basis and if carried out, they will result in severe sanctions against you and your institution.”
The Israeli officials in danger of ICC legal action include Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi.
“The ICC is attempting to punish Israel for taking legitimate actions of self-defense against their Iranian-backed aggressors,” the letter continued, noting that Khan visited Israel in December 2023 at the request of families of Hamas-held hostages. After visiting the Israeli communities devastated by the massacre carried out by the Palestinians, he said that he “had a simple message”
“My Office is here to ensure that the protection of the law is felt by all.
The letter continued.
“In fact, in your own words, you witnessed scenes of calculated cruelty conducted by Hamas in Israel,” the letter read. “Following the October 7 attack. These arrest warrants would align the ICC with the largest state sponsor of terrorism and its proxy. To be clear, there is no moral equivalence between Hamas terrorism and Israel’s justified response.”
The senators noted that the ICC charter prohibited the court from issuing warrants against Israelis.
“The ICC is also prohibited by its charter from proceeding in any case unless the relevant government is unwilling or unable to police themselves. You yourself have said that ‘Israel has trained lawyers who advise commanders and a robust system intended to ensure compliance with international humanitarian law.’ By issuing warrants you would be calling into question the legitimacy of Israel’s laws, legal system, and democratic form of government.”
The letter challenged the ICC, accusing it of hypocrisy and double standards.
“Issuing warrants for the leaders of Israel would not only be unjustified, it would expose your organization’s hypocrisy and double standards,” the letter read. “Your office has not issued arrest warrants for Iran Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei or any other Iranian official, Syrian President Bashar Al Assad, or any other Syrian official or Hamas leader Ismail Haniya or any other Hamas official. Nor have you issued an arrest warrant for the genocidal General Secretary of the People’s Republic of China, Xi Jinping or any other Chinese official.”
The senators also challenged the ICC’s jurisdiction. Neither Israel nor the U.S. is a member of the ICC, though the Palestinian territories were given member status in 2015.
“Finally, neither Israel nor the United States are members of the ICC and therefore, outside of your organization’s supposed jurisdiction. If you issue a warrant for the arrest of the Israeli leadership, we will interpret this not only as a threat to Israel’s sovereignty but to the sovereignty of the United States. Our country demonstrated in the American Service Members Protection Act the lengths to which we will go to protect that sovereignty.”
“The United States will not tolerate politicized attacks by the ICC on our allies, target Israel, and we will target you if you move if you move forward. With the measures indicated in the report, we will move to end all American support for the ICC, sanction your employees and associates, and bar you and your families from the United States.”
“You have been warned,” the letter concluded.
The letter was signed by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky as well as Senators Tom Cotton of Arkansas, Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, Katie Boyd Britt of Alabama, Ted Budd of North California; Kevin Cramer of North Dakota; Ted Cruz of Texas; Bill Hagerty of Tennessee; Pete Ricketts of Nebraska; Marco Rubio and Rick Scott of Florida; and Tim Scott of South Carolina.
The Biden administration has stated it does not support an ICC war crimes investigation into Israel, but it has not committed to issuing sanctions against the court if arrest warrants are issued against Israeli officials.
The ICC responded to the Senators’ letter on Twitter.
“The Office seeks to engage constructively with all stakeholders whenever such dialogue is consistent with its mandate under the Rome Statute to act independently and impartially,” the ICC’s Office of the Prosecutor tweeted.
Statement of the #ICC Office of the Prosecutor pic.twitter.com/Cw331pMcDm
— Int'l Criminal Court (@IntlCrimCourt) May 3, 2024
“That independence and impartiality are undermined, however, when individuals threaten to retaliate against the Court or against Court personnel should the Office, in fulfillment of its mandate, make decisions about investigations or cases falling within its jurisdiction,” the statement continued.
“Such threats, even when not acted upon, may also constitute an offense against the administration of justice under Art. 70 of the Rome Statute.”
The issue was preceded by legislation proposed last February by twelve senators, led by Rep. Tom Cotton, Senators Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Marco Rubio (R-Florida), who introduced a bill that would require the US to investigate or prosecute U.S. troops and officials and allies who do not recognize the authority of the ICC, such as Israel.
The bill proposed sanctioning and revoking the visas of any ICC employee or associate involved in investigating, prosecuting, or assisting in the investigation or prosecution of current or former US soldiers or officials or the current or former officials or troops of any ally of the United States that does not recognize the authority of the ICC. The bill also proposed revoking the visas of all ICC employees, all persons acting on behalf of the ICC, and the immediate family members of those sanctioned for investigating US and allied troops and officials.
